This weekend is flying by, but I am starting to finalize my plans to Sweden by picking up a few miscellaneous items. The first was a new laptop battery and AC adapter. About a couple months ago, I noticed my power cord began to show signs of some serious wear and with some of the rubber coating chipping off and almost exposing the wiring. Since electrical tape did not seem to properly adhere to it, I thought it was a good time to pick up a new one. Unfortunately, they are $60 on Dell's website ($30 on Ebay). To make matters worse, my battery in my laptop is no longer holding a charge and I never did qualify for the battery recall. I found a reputable seller on Ebay who only sells batteries. I got a larger capacity battery for half the price than what I could get from Dell's website, I'm just hoping it doesn't explode.

The hardest purchase was definitely my new backpack. I had my old Greatland backpack since my sophomore year in highschool and served me very well through plenty of trips, school, and hikes. It survived multiple liquid spills (water, gatorade, and orange juice) as well as someone puking on it once. Tragedy struck earlier this year when one of the zippers failed and can no longer stay zipped when the backpack is loaded. Thus it was necessary to search out a backpack, though it can never replace my old one. After going to two different malls in Tucson, Gabe and I decided to check out the Summit Hut and perused their collection. After about 45 minutes of comparison shopping, I decided on the North Face Big Shot. Sporting over 2000 cubic inches as well as a secure laptop sleeve, it has plenty of carrying capacity. It is also pretty comfortable when fully loaded. I have a feeling though that when carrying it around Europe, I will definitely be screaming tourist.

-Trevor